Equalizing device



Dec. 4 1923.

A. B. WHITTET EQUALIZING DEVICE Filed Sept. 22, 1923 gvwc/rvkw A .E .Whitt Et Q 4 j Q Patented Dec. 4, 1923.

UNITED Es nis PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR B. WHITTET, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

EQUALIZING DEVICE.

Application filed September 22, 1923.

Serial No. 664,318.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR B. l/VHITTET, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Vashington, District of Columbia, have invented an Improvement in Equalizing Devices, of'which the following is a specification.

The invention described herein may be used by the Government, or any of its ofiicers a? or employees in prosecution of work for the Government, or by any other person in the United States, without payment to me of any royalty thereon, in accordance with the act of March 3, 1883.

The subject of this invention is a gun carriage and the invention relates more speciiically to an equalizing device whereby a split trail gun carriage may adjust itself to uneven ground.

The principal object of my invention is the provision of means which, when the trail is lowered for firing, will provide a 3-point suspension for the gun carriage about one of which points the carriage may be oscillated.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention resides in the novel arrangement and combination of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit or" the invention.

A practical embodiment of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view,

Fig. 2 is a view in rear elevation with parts broken away.

Fig. 8 is a view in side elevation with parts broken away, and

Fig. 1 is a section on the line 4-1 of Fig. 2.

Referrin to the drawings by numerals of reference:

I have shown a gun carriage axle 10 proided intermediate its length with an opening 11 which is adapted to receive a center pin 12 which connects the top carriage 13 to the axle.

swingably supported on the axle at either side of the center pin 12 and preferably equi-distant therefrom are equalizer arms 14: and 15. To these arms are attached by any suitable means the trail members of a split trail. As shown each of these arms is provided with upper and lower pairs of cars 16 and 17 which are adapted to receive corresponding lugs on the trail members and are connected with said lugs by a pin, a bolt, or any similar device.

Each of the arms 14. and 15 at its lower end, in the preferred embodiment, of my invention, is recessed so as to receive a cylindrical bushing 18 for a purpose which will herinafter appear.

Swiveled on an extension 19 at the lower end of the center pin 12, in the preferred embodiment of my invention, is an equalizing rod 20, the ends 21 of which are adapted to pass through slots formed in the inner sides of the arms 14; and 15 and be received within openings 23 formed in the bushings 18. The slots 23 are of suflicient size to permit considerable latitude of movement of the equalizing rod, while the arms 14 and 15 are free to oscillate independently of each other within th limits permitted by the movement of the equalizing rod in the slots formed in these arms.

As will readily be apparent, with a device such as described, the swinging arms and the equalizing rod moving in different planes enable each trail member to find its proper seat, while at the same time connect these trail members with the gun carriage in such wise that the shocks of recoil will readily be transmitted to the trails.

While I have found it preferable to em ploy bushings which seat within recesses in the trail arms, it is obvious that any other suitable connection between the equalizing rod and the arms may be used without altering the function of my invention, and that any suitable connection between the equalizing rod and the center pin may be substituted for that employed.

I claim:

An equalizing device for gun carriages embodying a top carriage, an axle mounted in said top carriage, a pin connecting said axle to the top carriage, equalizer arms adapted to carry the members of a split trail swingably supported on said axle, bushings rotatably mounted in said arms and a rod journaled on said pin, said arms provided with slots the ends of said rod being adapted to extend into said slots and be mounted in said bushings.

ARTHUR B. WHITTET. 

